Writer Chat! Where the writers share their thoughts on Surviving High School, Cause of Death, and the writing process!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Friday Q & A

M Doty took some time today to answer your questions about Surviving High School, Cause of Death, and the writing team! First, a note from M:Thanks to everyone for the great questions. Before we get
started, I have to say one thing. There’s no way I’m going to spoil future events by telling you
which couples will get together or whether Sam will ever find true love! Those
are questions that will get answered in due time. For now, here are some
answers to your other questions.

Q: Hey M! I was wondering, because of the book and Sarah's
death... If Sarah would've won the election to be President, would that have
changed anything?

A: Great question! If Sara had won the election, it wouldn’t
have changed the fact that she’d die over the course of the summer—that was
something we had to do to stay consistent with the Surviving High School novel.
That said, it would have meant having yet ANOTHER secret Sara was keeping from
Emily and her family. It might also have led to a bit more soul searching for
whoever was taking over her position in The Storm: Part 2. You can imagine that
Taylor’s speech might have been slightly different if she was taking over for
Sara at the time.

Writer Fact: Each of the writers picked a different candidate to root for.

Q: Is there ever a disagreement between writers on the game on
whether which couple should be canon?

A: Writing team meetings often start with a brainstorm where a
lot of ideas, good and bad, go up on a whiteboard for people to debate. Believe
me, some unusual pairings have been suggested. Usually, what happens is that
someone makes an impassioned plea for a couple to get together or break up and
then gradually convinces the rest of us that it’ll make for a good story. I
personally had doubts about Colt and Denni at first, for example, but the rest
of the team convinced me it was a good idea, and I ended up really liking the
story of them getting together (even if I do feel bad for Sam.)

Writer Fact: In addition to the masquerade mask, Denni has also been a cowgirl for Halloween

Q: Is Kimi Chen related to Amy Chen from CoD?

A: Awesome that you noticed their shared last name! I can’t
comment specifically for now, but a Kimi and Amy crossover story sounds like a
lot of fun.

A: Kimi fans have a lot to look forward to. We’ll definitely
give you the chance to play as Kimi in future episodes. She’ll also be the main
character of the second Surviving High School book: How to be a Star, which will be coming out in May of 2013!

Writer Fact: Paige was originally introduced to the SHS world as Sam's troublemaking friend from the all-girls boarding school, Monarch Prep.

Q: And last question, how do you pronounce Paige's name?

When I was younger, I played a game called Final Fantasy II, whose protagonist was
a warrior named “Cecil.” In my mind, I pronounced this as rhyming with
“diesel.” Later, a friend told me I was an idiot and that it was actually
pronounced a different way, as if it rhymed with “vessel.” At this point, I
think we were BOTH right. The beauty of having a text based game is that you pronounce
things however you want in your own mind.